Yuuki Goes Rambo
by gunnergoob
Summary: With Zero and Kaname gone for the evening, Yuuki is left to defend herself against unimaginable odds.
1. Chapter 1

"Yuuki Goes Rambo"

Disclaimer: Vampire Knight is by Matsuri Hino. This is just a spin-off I have written for entertainment.

Introduction: The following takes place over the break when all the students go home and Kaname and the others go to Aidou's mansion, while Yuuki stays behind at an empty Cross Academy. Little does anyone know that at the time of Rido's awakening, the Vampire Council has sent Ichiru to assassinate Yuuki, because they fear Rido will be too powerful if he gets a hold of her. But Ichiru isn't prepared for the wrath Yuuki is going to unleash on him. This has been playing out in my head for a while now. I hope it turns out just as good in words and I hope you like it!

The soft warmth of the evening air is interrupted as a cool breeze brings with it an ominous feeling. She appears from nowhere and is knelt beside him on the balcony. "Kaname-sama, he is awakened."

"I know. I'm going back to the academy, Seiren. Keep an eye out for any movement."

"Of course."

~Cross Academy~

It is the perfect opportunity for her to sneak off. There are no students to protect and the Chairman, Zero, and Yagari-sensei have left to attend to some business at the Hunter's Association headquarters. She tries to push Kaname-sama from her mind as she leaves the sun dorms and heads for the woods. Between his indecipherable intentions and her struggle to keep Zero's cravings under control, she feels at a loss for everything. Sometimes it infuriates her the way Kaname-sama and Zero treat her. She is tired of being patronized.

This brief escape helps her get her priorities straight again. She makes her way into the woods following the familiar path to her secret getaway. It is a waterfall created by the river running through the forest just outside of Cross Academy. She knows it's dangerous to leave the school property, but this act of defiance is just the thing that makes her feel better. It's the one thing she has to herself. She has a feeling Kaname-sama holds the secrets of her past, she gives Zero all the blood she can, and her emotions and loyalties seem to be torn between the two of them. This little secret, her occasional evening swim, is hers alone. She tries to focus her thoughts on the moment, forgetting all her responsibilities and concerns.

The warm night air brushes against her skin. She hears birds singing lullabies that carry through the trees as if they were meant just for her. The sky holds on to the last of the daylight from the setting sun. A sense of tranquility hovers in the woods as creatures settle down for the night. Yuuki hears the rushing of water as she approaches the rocks up ahead. She steps out onto a giant boulder that overlooks the water. This boulder is one of many that encircles the water in the river making it still enough to swim. She looks towards the pink sky of the setting sun and just beneath it lies the waterfall spilling over into the pool of water. It is calming as the sound flushes all the worries from her mind. She takes off her t-shirt, shorts, and shoes so that she is just in her bathing suit and sets Artemis on the boulder with her clothes. She looks down toward the water about nine feet below and then throws herself off the rock. The cool water against her skin as she is completely submerged further alleviates the tension in her mind. She feels happy again and carefree as she comes back up for air. She floats in the water on her back for awhile before she decides to try and swim toward the waterfall. She feels so secluded and free in the water.

After she has completely worn herself out swimming she decides to head back to the academy before the Chairman and Zero return. She climbs back up on the rock and wrings her hair out in her hands and puts her clothes back on over her bathing suit, she doesn't care if she is soaking wet. She fastens Artemis back around her thigh and heads back towards Cross Academy. By now darkness has set in, but she knows her way back. She thinks to herself that she wouldn't mind getting lost out here if it meant she didn't have to face reality for a while longer. The only sound in the woods now is the crunch of her feet against the twigs and leaves on the ground. The moonlight drapes the woods making everything blue in its glow. She can hear every breath she takes. Suddenly she is overcome with a feeling of dread. Something isn't right. The forest shouldn't be this quiet even in the night. That's when she hears the crunching of the ground around her. Whatever it is, it's all around and getting closer. She knows the world she lives in though, and the only thing she fears enough to make her heart beat out of her chest the way it is beating now is the threat of vampires. She doesn't know how many surround her, hidden in the woods right now, but she knows they are there. She can feel the heat coming off her body in waves just enticing her predators to come and get the hot blood pulsing more rapidly than ever through her veins. She knows that it is unlikely that if she stays frozen in place long enough she'll disappear. She can't allow her fear to paralyze her, so she whips Artemis out and holds her breath as the sound of sliding metal reverberates off the trees around her. She doubts it's much of a warning to the vampires, but the sound of Artemis cuts through the night reassuring her that she still has a fighting chance.

Then she sees one of them. He emerges from behind a tree. His eyes glowing bright crimson in the darkness settled around them, his hands elongated as his fingernails extend into deadly claws. He is slowly coming towards her. Then another emerges from deeper in the forest, her eyes glowing with blood lust as well. Yuuki takes a defensive stance against their advances, gripping Artemis tightly in front of her. Suddenly the male vampire lets out an animalistic groan as he lunges toward her, fangs glinting in the moonlight and razor sharp claws reaching for her. Yuuki's arms react faster than her mind. She takes Artemis into her hands like a bat and swings full force at the vampire's head. The sound of his cracking skull splits the night and turns Yuuki's spine to ice. She watches as his limp body hits the ground and bursts into a million tiny crystal shards. She doesn't have time to be dumbfounded by what she has done, because the female vampire, in a fit of vengeful rage is charging towards her with fury in her eyes. She swipes at Yuuki's bare legs with her claws. Yuuki screams as she feels her thigh burn where the vampire has slashed open her skin. She can feel the warm blood running down her leg. The sight of it claims the rabid female's attention long enough that Yuuki takes advantage of it. The vampire darts low towards the fresh blood pouring from Yuuki's open wound and Yuuki takes Artemis in her hands, holding it horizontally in the air. The vampire's mouth is gaping as she moves to sink her teeth into Yuuki's leg. Yuuki's muscles tense as she shoves Artemis into the vampire's open mouth and down into her throat, her fangs breaking against the electrified metal. Yuuki only recoils after she sees the vampire immobilized as blood gushes out of her mouth. Yuuki withdraws Artemis as she watches the vampire collapse on all fours. She lets out a gargling noise as her own blood drowns her. She then bursts into glasslike shards. Yuuki remains motionless, Artemis gripped in her hands, blood dripping off the shining silver. She stares at the ground where her two assailants fell before her and cannot believe she has so brutally defeated them. Her leg is barely aching anymore as the adrenaline saturating the entire inside of her body numbs her completely. She looks at the blood on her leg, black under the moonlight, and jerks her head up as she hears more footsteps coming toward her. She looks behind her and sees at least four more vampires steadily approaching her. Panic grips her and immobilizes her once more. She can't believe she has annihilated _two_ vampires, she can't imagine there is anyway she could take _four _at once. She does the only thing she can think to do in the moment. She runs. She feels her legs floating beneath her. She is running so fast it seems her feet aren't even touching the ground. She retracts Artemis so that she can run faster. She feels the vampires at her heels. She is trying to make it out of the curtain of the woods. She thinks she might feel safer once she reaches the Academy, but she knows that the open land around the Academy won't keep her enemies from pursuing her. This will only be over once they are dead, or she is. She will have to kill them all, or be killed. This revelation stuns her. She stumbles and before she can regain her footing, she is falling hard to the ground. Artemis flies from her hand and she hears the muffled clanking as it hits the ground somewhere out of her reach. She races to get back to her feet, apprehensively looking behind her as she does. There are six of them now, not more than ten yards behind her. She doesn't have time to find Artemis. She looks in front of her and can see the clearing ahead of her. She is almost back to the Academy. She pushes herself off the ground with her bleeding hands. Her feet launch her back into a sprint. Her heart feels like it is about to beat out of her chest. She can't let her fear overcome her. She soars out of the darkness of the woods into the unfiltered glow of the moonlight. Her wet hair whipping the back of her neck, blood oozing from her clenched fists. Her clothes are completely wet from her bathing suit underneath, turning the dirt to mud as it sticks to her skin. The blood from her vampire wound has run all down her leg and soaked into her shoe. All of this is invisible to her as she pushes herself harder towards the Academy.

She sees the dining hall building first. She knows the vampires aren't far behind her, but she needs more time. She doesn't have a weapon and she's outnumbered. She closes the gap between herself and the door to the building in what feels like eternity. She fiercely prays that the door is unlocked as she slams herself into it. She pulls the handle and thankfully the door comes toward her. Once she is inside she slams the door shut. In the half second it took her to close the door she saw the vampires, their eyes glowing with thirst, prowling toward her. She bolted the thick wooden door and lodged one of the cafeteria chairs beneath the handle. She wasn't sure that would hold the six of them off at all, but it was worth a shot. She darted past the rows of empty tables in the unlit dining hall. The moon still following her through the enormous windows lining both sides of the room. She busts through the double swinging doors into the kitchen frantically searching for anything she can use. She looks at the labels on the drawers and cabinets, "Pot holders....spatulas.......knives!" She yanks at the knife drawer but it is locked. "They don't lock the door, but they lock up the knives?!" she yells to no one. She desperately attempts to rip the drawer out anyway, but her attempts are futile.

She hears them banging on the door in the distance. She has to come up with a plan _now_. She scans the rest of the drawers at light speed until she finds one labeled "matches." She yanks at it hard, thinking it will be locked too. The entire drawer comes out spilling boxes of matches onto the floor. She picks one up and heads around the kitchen to each of the stoves. The banging is growing louder and she hears the chair clack to the floor while the door creaks under their force. She pulls each stove out from the wall enough to rip the gas line out from the back. She starts to cough as the rotten egg smell becomes thicker in the room. She notices that the banging has stopped and only wonders where they have gone for a second before she hears an enormous amount of glass shattering in the dining hall. She turns to the counter that connects this room to the other room of the kitchen. She hops the counter and ducks beneath it just in time to hear the vampires' footsteps coming towards the double doors. She pulls out a match and strikes it against the box. It doesn't catch. She hears the double doors swing open and the loud breathing of several vampires in the room just on the other side of the divide. She knows that this next scrape of the match will give her location away so she makes it a good one. The flame is big and glowing orange. She stands up and the vampires are already looking her direction. They watch, grimaces on their faces, as she throws the match toward them and sees the flame catch the gas in the air. She throws herself to the floor as the kitchen explodes. She lands on her back and is momentarily smothered by heat as the flames lick her skin for an instant. The flames retract over her as they are sucked back into the opening over the counter that divides the two rooms. She coughs as she rolls over onto her hands and knees. Her skin has an extra layer of filth from a sweaty mixture of dirt and now smoke. She hears eery screaming on the other side of the counter and stands up to see the aftermath. Three of the vampires are frantically running around engulfed in orange and red flames. _Three? Where are the oth---_

Two of the remaining vampires bust through the doors on the opposite side of the room from where Yuuki is standing. She doesn't have time to worry about the third missing vampire, much less the time to watch her back. The only thing between her and these two is an island with an array of pans hanging overtop from the ceiling. By this point, she is ready to get this over with. She agilely jumps onto the island and pulls a big frying pan off its hook. The two vampires opposite her tense to spring. One of them goes to knock her off her feet so that she will fall from the island. As his hand swipes at her feet she jumps over them and lands with her feet firmly planted on the ground. He makes another swipe at her face this time and she blocks it with the frying pan. His hand falls and she swings the frying pan at his head. She hits him and he falls to the ground. The other vampire cuts her wrist so that she drops the frying pan and then grabs it and pulls her to him. His fangs protrude from beneath his lips as he thrusts his head toward her neck. She takes her free arm and slams her elbow down into his chest causing him to release her and stumble backwards. He clutches his chest trying to breathe again. She doesn't even hesitate before she spins around and throws her leg at him full force. Her foot collides with his jaw sending him to the floor. She mercilessly stomps on his neck, breaking it in an instant. Suddenly, she hits the floor while the last vampire bursts to crystal simultaneously. The first vampire had kicked her feet out from under her. Her head hits the tile floor hard and she groans. This can't be the end. She has killed six vampires up to this point. She is going to finish this. Especially now that she thinks she has a chance. She rolls over just as his claws break the tile that her heart laid over milliseconds ago. She swings her legs around in front of her knocking his feet out from under him, just as he had hers. He lays on the floor face up and from where she is sitting she lays back on her elbows so that she can lift her leg high enough to throw her heel down into his face. Her leg comes down and his nose crunches against the back of her shoe. She repeats the action over and over until she no longer hears him choking on his blood. The shards of crystal settle like dust on the floor. She gets up slightly disturbed by her own brutality. She never dreamed she would be capable of this.

Suddenly, she feels teeth sinking into her neck from behind. She screams as the missing vampire's arms circle around the front of her body clenching her tightly. She feels the blood rapidly leaving her. She has to get free from his grip. She pulls her knees up toward her as he holds her and then thrusts them out so that she kicks off the corner of the island sending them both flying backwards toward the swinging doors. They hit the floor and the force of the fall coupled with her weight releases his arms from her body and sends her rolling through the doors into the dining hall. She feels a hand wrap around her ankle and pull her back through the doorway. She pulls against his grip, but he pulls her closer to him. She flips over onto her back throwing her left leg at his face. His grip loosens just enough for her to scramble for the frying pan she dropped earlier. He pulls her by her leg again just as she grabs the handle and when she is close enough to him she swings the skillet at his head with everything she's got. He turns to dust next to her.

The wound in her neck aches. She gets up and but doesn't feel any relief from the tension. She knows she has killed all six vampires that followed her from the woods, but she still feels anxious. To be sure she cautiously walks back through both rooms of the kitchen. They are disastrous. The explosion in the one room caught some of the cabinets on fire. By now the flames have died down, but almost everything is blackened by the smoke and ash. The thought quickly flashes through her mind, _I wonder what Zero would think...or Kaname-sama_, before she shakes the trivial contemplation from her head. She walks out the first set of double doors she came through and back into the dining hall. It looks mostly untouched except for the broken glass from one of the windows all over the floor and the overturned chair she used to barricade the door. She sighs heavily, seeing that there doesn't appear to be anyone left to fight. Then, she sees him moving out of the darkness across the dining hall. He doesn't have the glowing red eyes of blood lust. In fact he looks quite calm. He saunters slowly toward her.

"I-Ichiru?"

"And I thought that the council was being excessive, sending me with eight vampires just to kill a little girl. Clearly, I underestimated you. I just assumed you always cowered behind my brother."

Yuuki continues to stare at him in complete shock. She realizes her expression probably looks like that of a scared little girl, so she adjusts it to one of controlled anger. Ichiru may have been sent to kill her, but she can't imagine taking the life of Zero's brother. But it looks like that's what it's going to come down to, so she says, "I don't want to kill you, because I think Zero should have the honor, but know this: if it comes down to my life or yours, I will kill you."

Ichiru lets out an amused laugh, "But it seems I have the advantage of a sword, where you have no advantage at all."

Yuuki looks him dead in the eye and says with confidence she has never known before, "I just killed eight vampires. You really think I can't take you?"

To be continued.

I got kind of carried away with this. If you made it this far, let me know what you think.

Music that helped me:

"Help I'm Alive" by Metric

"Knights of Cydonia" by Muse

"Push It" by Garbage

"It's My Life" by No Doubt

"Ghost Town" by Shiny Toy Guns

"The Undertaker (Renholder Mix)" by Puscifier


	2. Chapter 2

Yuuki felt like she was transported to another world. Everything was quiet and reverent and clear. Moonlight flooded everything surrounding her and for a moment she was at peace, despite the fact that her eyes were locked on her enemy. She would do what was necessary, nothing more, nothing less. There was no doubt in her mind that she would survive this. She would not be a victim of the feud she had dedicated herself to ending, nor would she be defeated by someone so dishonorable as Ichiru. He was just one in a series who wanted take her life. He wasn't even at the top of the food chain. After this she would somehow have to deal with the council, but right now she was staring at Ichiru and the shining silver sword at his side. She was armed only with her righteous fury.

They continued to stare at each other, Ichiru with a patient yet smug look on his face, his hair drawn back with his bangs cast over his eyes. Yuuki studied him. How did he always manage to look so innocent, so victimized, while simultaneously looking so lethal? Maybe he was just that transparent, but that didn't lessen the intensity of his threatening presence. They started to walk in a circle in the dining hall, always keeping an equal distance from each other. Ichiru moved his hands and held them behind his back, waiting, while Yuuki kept hers at her side, fists clenched. Draped in the moonlight and and feeling what they both thought would be their impending glory, they walked and glared, taking it all in.

They appeared to be dancing as they continued to circle, waiting for the other to take the lead. Yuuki was rapidly trying to formulate a plan to disarm him, or at least somehow level the playing field, but before she even had time to decide on a course of action, she heard Ichiru's blade cut through the air as it came down in a straight line toward her. He moved so fast she barely had time to react, but she nimbly stepped to the side leaving his will unfulfilled. They continued to circle around one another, faster now that he had made the first move. He thrust the sword at her stomach and she moved backwards. He sliced at her feet and she jumped. He spun around, bringing the sword down toward her head and she dodged to the left, then the right. He came at her again and again, she dodged here and ducked there. He swiped low again and she threw her feet over her head, flipping away from him. She came up, narrowly missing the corner of a table. She glanced quickly at it to gauge her distance from it as Ichiru came at her again and when she did she noticed a metal serving tray. She grabbed it and threw it up in front of her face just as Ichiru's sword came down. The tray was dented in, but it still had a few good blocks left in it. She blocked him from the right and when the sword hit the tray she pushed back sending the sword and Ichiru's arms down to the left, then she threw the tray back at Ichiru's head. The hollow clang of the metal against his head gave her a boost of adrenaline at this opportunity and as he recoiled from the blow she kicked the sword out of his hand. It slid far behind him.

Ichiru stood up straight and they stared at each other again. Yuuki threw the tray away from her and it clanked to the floor in the distance, the only noise in the room besides her and Ichiru's heavy breathing. Yuuki made the first move this time throwing her leg up toward his face. He caught her ankle and twisted her around. In the moment, Yuuki boldly flung her other leg at him sending her completely airborne as her heel collided with Ichiru's jaw. He released her ankle and she spun and landed crouched on the floor. He regained his composure in a moment and then came at her again with lightning speed. She dodged his punches one after the other, not even bothering to get in a hit of her own, but she stumbled and he hit her in the stomach, hard. She slumped over gasping for air and he grabbed her upper arm and then her thigh lifting her horizontally into the air. The next thing she knew she was being hurled through the air until her back slammed into the wall behind her. She slid down it, her body smacking the floor. The shock of it all was incapacitating, but she didn't have time to suffer. Ichiru was sauntering toward her with satisfaction written all over his face as she struggled to get to her knees. He came over to her and pulled her up by the collar of her t-shirt. When she was standing he grabbed her around the shoulders and lifted her into the air. She brought her knees up toward her chest so that she could kick him, but he pushed his body into hers until her back was once more pressed up against the wall.

Her legs were on either side of his waist and his chest was pressed up against hers, trapping her arms between the two of them. He pushed harder to keep her against the wall as he ran his right hand along her thigh and she cringed. Then he moved his lips in close to hers until they were almost touching, his warm breath brushing her lips as he spoke, "I don't know which I'm going to enjoy more, destroying you or my brother....but it seems I might be able to accomplish both just by eliminating you. Pretend this is from Zero if you want, but if not, don't worry, I won't tell..." and then he kissed her with a ferocity that quite frankly shocked the hell out of her.

After what seemed like eternity he pulled his head back and she saw that familiar smirk on his face. After a moment of disorientation, she felt his hand on her thigh once more and though she realized it was probably going to hurt really bad, he deserved it, so she leaned her head back against the wall and then threw it forward with all the force she could muster, effectively head butting him. She almost laughed as he dropped her and stumbled backwards, but she hit the floor again and it reminded her that this was no laughing matter.

She stood up and was met with a hard slap across the face that split open her lip. He just stood there as she slowly turned her head back straight to face him, her wet hair sticking to her face and blood trickling into her mouth. She brushed the hair from her face to stare into his eyes that were staring right back, challenging her. She touched her fingertips to her bottom lip and looked down at the blood on her fingers. She looked back up at him and then at the table and chairs right next to him. She glanced at it quickly enough that he couldn't follow her train of thought and then she leapt toward the chair. In what seemed like one swift motion she launched herself onto the chair, then the table and then spun her leg around to kick him directly in the face, before he could even comprehend what she was doing. They hit the floor at the same time except she landed on her feet standing over his sprawled out body. He lay there for only a second before he grabbed a chair leg that was beside him, and then gripping the chair tightly in his hands he swung the whole thing at her torso, knocking her to the ground no more than a foot away from him. He then crawled over to where she lay and grabbed her throat. As he squeezed, she thrashed and as he moved to sit on her legs she was able to knee him in the crotch. His grip loosened and she scrambled away from him and to her feet. She grabbed a chair and spun around to hit him with it just as he blocked with the same chair he had before. They threw the chairs at each other until they had the legs of the chairs all jammed together. Frustrated, they both just dropped them to the side and went for the simplicity of hand to hand once more.

Ichiru went to hit her in the face and she ducked down to the ground and decided to sweep his legs out from under him with one swift kick. He hit the floor and quickly made a move to get back up. Yuuki grabbed him by his ponytail and smashed his face into the side of one of the tables as he was halfway standing. He fell back down and blood was flowing profusely from his nose. But he didn't looked phased, in fact under all the blood she swore she saw him smile. Then she saw why. In all their fighting they had moved across the room, and being distracted by chairs being thrown and such, she hadn't noticed that Ichiru was now on the floor right next to where she had sent his sword soaring earlier. He grabbed it up before she could act and lurched forward at her, swinging the sword across her stomach, the tip of the blade just reaching her and slicing through her t-shirt, etching a bloody line just above her belly button. She gasped and stumbled backwards. It hurt like hell, but it wasn't so deep she would surrender. But there he was standing once more with the sword at his side and she was defenseless yet again. How was she going to get that sword away from him?

She wasn't sure if this would work, but she knew he would chase after her so she turned on her heels and ran away from him back toward the kitchen doors where she had destroyed all those vampires just before. Sure enough she could hear his footsteps as he pursued her. She pushed through the swinging kitchen door and stopped on the other side hiding just behind it, watching it swing slowly back and forth. Thinking she had kept running after she went through the door, Ichiru burst through the door and as it swung in, Yuuki slammed it back at him as hard as she could. He was jolted by the impact, but he still held the sword and now she was close to him once more. He lunged after her as she ran through the kitchen throwing everything she could grab back at him, but nothing would stop him. She ran around the island in the center of the kitchen and back through the swinging doors into the dining hall. He was following close behind her. She continued running through the dining hall, thinking that was the only thing she could do, when she saw the destroyed window from earlier where the vampires had come in. They had ripped the long curtains from the wall as they had entered and there on the floor amidst the broken glass was a curtain rod. Yuuki quickly crunched through the broken glass and picked up the long curtain rod. It was made of some type of heavy metal. This would do the trick.

Ichiru was right next to her now and he yelled as he threw his sword toward her with all the force he could. It was obvious he was infuriated by her discovery and was anxious to defeat her. She stiffly held the curtain rod out in front of her and cringed as the sword collided with it. Ichiru retracted to take another swing and she countered the blow again with the rod. It wasn't Artemis, but it sure was handy. They went on like that, clanging metal against metal, over and over again, until Ichiru, clearly exasperated, let out another infuriated groan as he tried again to strike her. This time Yuuki decided not to block. She just moved to the side and Ichiru stumbled forward, the weight of his force throwing him off balance. Yuuki was breaking him down. That was the thing with Ichiru, he always got mad when he realized he wasn't the best, not even close.

He stood up straight again, panting. Yuuki knew it was beyond time to finish this. He would surrender soon enough. She decided to fake him out. She swung the curtain rod up over her head as if to strike him in his head, and when he made a move to anticipate the blow, she switched the course of the rod and jabbed the other end of it into his stomach instead. He gasped and dropped the sword. Yuuki threw the curtain rod to the ground and grabbed the sword lightning fast. She stood there waiting for him to catch his breath. This time the sword was at her side. Yuuki finally spoke, "I think it's time we end this." Ichiru, now breathing evenly, stared at her through narrowed eyes. Blood was drying beneath his nose and down his chin and neck. His nose was probably broken. His shirt was soaked in blood down the front, it was ripped in some places too. His hair was a disheveled mess around his face, where bruises were sure to appear before long. He looked awful and it wasn't just his outward appearance. She could tell by the expression on his face that he was a mess on the inside too, not the calm and cool persona he was when he first challenged her. She waited for him to speak, to surrender, but to her surprise he abruptly turned and sprinted for the door. Coward.

Yuuki took a millisecond to process and then she was sprinting right behind him, sword still in her hand. She could hardly believe how fast he was running but she kept pace with him, just a few yards behind him. They ran across the field toward the entrance to the Academy down toward the gate. She would chase him all the way into the city if she had to, but then just outside the gate to the Academy she saw a car sitting in the dark, the headlights cutting through the night. Ichiru sped up faster toward it and Yuuki knew he was going to get away from her. She pushed herself harder, but she was too late. Ichiru was already at the door of the car and he was climbing in. She reached the car just as it was speeding off into the night. She hit the bumper with the sword out of anger as it pulled away from the entrance, but it was useless. He was gone.

Yuuki stood there pacing back and forth, cursing herself under her breath. She was stomping her feet on the ground as two cars pulled up to the entrance of the academy. Paranoid it was more vampires or assassins coming to finish her off, she took a defensive stance and held the sword, ready to take them on. The cars parked and the doors opened. Yuuki took a deep breath. Then she saw Kaname-sama emerge from one of the cars. And then Zero, the Chairman, and Yagari-sensei, got out of the other car. She exhaled a heavy sigh of relief.

"Yuuki!!!" cried the Chairman, "What happened to you?!!" He rushed toward her, but was apprehensive in touching her, like he might hurt her by doing so. Zero and Yagari stared at her as well with looks of disbelief and shock on their faces. Kaname-sama walked slowly toward her, his expression controlled, but she could detect fury in his eyes. They all stood there waiting for her to speak. She was momentarily confused, but then she realized how she must look.

Her hair was still damp and tousled all around her face, no doubt with dirt and ash caked to every strand. Her lip was swollen and bloody leaving a drip of blood down her chin, her face covered in dark spots that were a combination of bruises and dirt that had only come off in places where sweat from her forehead cleared it away. Her neck had dried blood trailing from a vampire's bite mark, the blood soaking into the collar of what was left of her t-shirt. Her arms were covered in scratches and she wasn't even sure where she got them from. Her hands that were still clenched tightly around the sword were a reddish brown from where the blood had dried all over them, either from where she skinned them earlier or where she had wiped the blood from other places on her body. Her tattered shirt was completely torn away from her stomach revealing a long horizontal cut that still oozed fresh blood that dripped all down her abdomen soaking into the waistline of her denim shorts. Her leg was also slashed open and the blood has soaked all down her leg and into her shoe. Her other leg was also covered in smeared and dried blood from where it had brushed up against the other. Then to top it all off she was covered in a sheen of sweat, dirt, and ash that made all the blood and bruises glisten in the moonlight.

She tried to find words: "Um...it seems I'm not very popular with the vampire council, that's all." Kaname-sama's expression hardly changed, it seemed like from the moment he saw her he knew who was responsible, and that look on his face told her that they were going to pay. Kaname moved toward her and took the sword in his hand. She didn't loosen her grip when he tried to pull it away from her. "It's okay, Yuuki, I won't let anyone else harm you," he crooned. She released her hold and somehow found herself falling into his open arms. He pulled her up, cradling her against his chest and she surrendered to whatever power he was using to lull her to sleep. Her body welcomed the relief, but her mind protested. Just before she sunk into unconsciousness, she heard him say "We should get her to your office, Chairman, before any other vampires lose their better judgement." And he cast a look in Zero's direction. Zero's eyes were glowing red and he was clutching his throat.

When Yuuki awoke, she was lying on the sofa in the Chairman's office. The room was quiet except for the sound of a TV. It sounded like some action movie or something. Disoriented, she took inventory of her injuries. She was still in her tattered and dirty clothes, but her wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, all the blood had been wiped from her face and the rest of her body. She looked up and saw Zero standing at the end of the couch, he was facing away from her toward the TV. She looked around and saw that Kaname was sitting in a chair near her, his eyes also locked on the screen. Yagari and the Chairman were also staring at the television. What the heck was going on?

She sat up and asked, "What are we watching?" And all their heads turned to look at her with strange almost incredulous expressions on their faces. Just then there was a loud explosion from the direction of the TV and they all looked back at it. This was no action movie, it was Yuuki on screen right as she had blown up the kitchen earlier that night. Then she saw herself battling two vampires at once and in shock, Yuuki jumped up and grabbed the remote from the Chairman's hand and fumbled for the pause button. Kaname tried to coax her to sit back down, but she was freaking out. Here they all were watching everything that happened, it was so embarrassing!

The Chairman spoke then, "Yuuki, it's the surveillance feed from the dining hall...I can not believe what you went through! I'm so sorry!!" He pulled her in for a hug and she pulled away still humiliated.

"Well, I can just tell you the rest. You don't have to watch it--" Yuuki started, but Yagari-sensei cut in, "Oh no, I want to see this. You know, we might have to recruit you into the Association. Lighting them up like that? That was resourceful, kid. Hit play, Kaien."

The Chairman did, and Yuuki sauntered back over to the couch feeling defeated, yet again. She sat down and Kaname reached for her hand. He studied her for a moment and then turned back to the screen, still clutching her bandaged hand. She could feel Zero boring a hole in her with his stare and she turned to look at him. It was like he didn't know what to say, which was completely understandable, she didn't know either.

They just watched the screen. Yuuki relived every moment of it that she watched. She saw herself defeat all the vampires in the kitchen and then Ichiru came into the picture. Yuuki could feel the tension rise in the Chairman's office. Even Yagari who had occasionally been laughing and throwing approving looks at Yuuki, was now eerily quiet. They listened as Yuuki and Ichiru exchanged threats, and she blushed remembering her boldness and looked up at Zero at the part where she said she rather let him kill his own brother, but his face was carved of stone, it was almost scary. Then the fight ensued, Yuuki winced at the part where Ichiru threw her into the wall: "That's gonna hurt in the morning," she said to herself out loud. They didn't even seem to notice, they were all staring so hard at the screen. Then Yuuki almost gasped when she watched as Ichiru slammed her into the wall and was whispering to her with his hand running up and down her thigh. How had she forgotten about that?! Kaname's grip on her hand tightened. He was pissed. Her face flushed bright red and she thought to herself _Thank God he was talking so low they can't hear it!! _She wished she could just disappear as she watched Ichiru kiss her, and it seemed to just drag on and on, for the love of--

And then she head butted him. Yagari burst out laughing again and Yuuki couldn't help herself, she laughed too. She had wanted to laugh the moment after she did it. They all turned and looked at her. But she was still laughing. Yagari turned to the Chairman, "I'm serious, we need this girl." The Chairman smiled a weak smile, still distraught over what he was seeing. Yuuki glanced at Zero and Kaname as she tried to get her laughter back under control, by now she was laughing more out of sheer nervousness. They didn't seem to think it was that funny. Then Zero asked her, with a humorless look on his face, "What did he say to you right before that?"

She blushed again, her face felt hotter than before as all their eyes bored into her. "Uh...I don't remember, something about killing me, I'm sure." She knew they could tell she was lying, but no one pressed any further. Yup, it had been one hell of a night. And after all that she had been through, she deserved a little respect and a little sleep. And with that in mind, as the video ended with Ichiru's unfortunate escape, Yuuki announced, "I'm going to bed, because, well, obviously I'm beat..." she chuckled to herself, "...and I think it's safe to say my job here is done for the night." Then she stood up took her hand out of Kaname's and breezed passed Zero as she headed for the door. She all the sudden felt so damn cocky, and she liked it. She couldn't wait to see how they would treat her now!

"Goodnight!" she chirped as she slid out the office door.

Music:

"End of the Night" by The Doors

"Paralyzed" by The Cardigans

"Bulletproof" by La Roux

"MK Ultra" by Muse

"Propane Nightmares" by Pendulum

"Move (If You Wanna)" by Mims

"The Rockafeller Skank" by Fatboy Slim

"Battle Without Honor or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei (cliché, I know, but I just had to...haha)

Hope you enjoyed this conclusion! Let me know what you think!


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